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Leon McDuff Lyrics

Artist: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Album: Partners, Brothers and Friends

Ladies and gentlemen of the juryI come before you to plead for the life of Leon McDuffLadies and gentlemen on the juryI asking you to be the judge of when enough is enough

Now Leon McDuff has worked on his daddyâ‚¬â„¢s farm everyday since the day that he was bornPlowing in the fields and hoeing in the garden and helping pick the cotton and the cornThen came the time of the Mississippi floods and all of his work went down the drainThe land was parched by the sun and blown by the wind and finally washed away by the rain

So he went to his friends to get some help from them but their crops and their money was all goneSo he went to the bank to mortgage his home but the bank wouldnâ‚¬â„¢t give Leon a loanHe could not decide how his family would survive with no crops and no money to buy foodAnd as he struggled with his hands to rework his land the notice came that said his land tax was due

Chorus

Now in an air-conditioned office on the other side of town sat a government official with a frownâ‚¬ËœCause heâ‚¬â„¢d been trying for so long to find land to build a summer home but cheap river land could not be foundThen in the middle of his gloom his boss walked in the room and said Iâ‚¬â„¢ve got some real good news for the house youâ‚¬â„¢ve plannedThereâ‚¬â„¢s a farmer whoâ‚¬â„¢s so poor and whoâ‚¬â„¢s luck has run so sour that he can not pay the taxes on his land

So just you wait a week or two â‚¬Ëœtil the moneyâ‚¬â„¢s over due then go to the cashier down the hallWith his deed in your hand pay the taxes on the land have the sheriff give Leon McDuff a callHave him tell Leon to move by the last day of July because the taxes on his land are overdueTell him he has to move away â‚¬Ëœcause the taxes were not paid then all his river land belongs to you

Chorus

Now in that air-conditioned office in about a week or two came the sheriff saying Iâ‚¬â„¢ve got some bad newsThat Leon McDuff says heâ‚¬â„¢s had some bad luck and heâ‚¬â„¢ll try to get the money but he aint agonnaâ‚¬â„¢ moveThat official he jumped up and grabbed the sheriff by the arm he said weâ‚¬â„¢re going down to take that land todaySo he and the sheriff drove down to Leonâ‚¬â„¢s farm to tell the McDuffs to move away

There stood Leon on his land with a shotgun in his hand, his eyes narrowed â‚¬Ëœneath the brim of his hatHe said â‚¬Å“Iâ‚¬â„¢ve worked hard on this land as a boy and as a man I aint gonna lose it to no god damned bureaucrat.â‚¬?Well that bureaucrat got mad and grabbed the gun in Leonâ‚¬â„¢s hand and in the struggle an explosion cracked the airAnd when the smoke and dust had cleared and the ringing left their ears, the sheriff lay a dying on the ground

Chorus

Now on this table I will lay, this gun â‚¬Å“Exhibit Aâ‚¬? with two sets of fingerprints as you can seeBut other hands were here unperceived by eye or ear that helped trigger off this awful tragedyNow to me its still unclear just what really caused the problem hereThereâ‚¬â„¢s much too much weâ‚¬â„¢ve got to know before we know enoughSo we canâ‚¬â„¢t find out today where all the guilt should lay but it shouldnâ‚¬â„¢t be on Leon McDuff